a town of Prussian Saxony, in the government of Erfurt, stands on the Zorge, at the foot of the Seyersberg, a branch of the Harz Mountains, and at the head of the fertile valley called the Goldene Aue, or Golden Valley, 38 miles N.N.W. of Erfurt, and 49 W. of Halle. It has an antique appearance, and is surrounded by walls and towers, with seven gates. There are a Roman Catholic and several Protestant churches, one of the latter containing two paintings by Cranach; a town-hall; a theatre; 4 hospitals; and several schools. Nordhausen contains distilleries, which are among the largest in Germany; besides tanneries, woollen factories, soap-works, oil-mills, and manufactories of linen, hats, sealing-wax, vitriol, and chemical substances. An active trade is carried on here in corn and cattle. Wolf, the famous classical scholar, was born in the neighbourhood of Nordhausen. Pop. 14,960.